Fred VanVleet stars in 1st career regular-season NBA start

Matt Trowbridge Staff writer @matttrowbridge

Saturday

Nov 17, 2018 at 10:24 PMNov 17, 2018 at 11:22 PM

CHICAGO — Fred VanVleet was the sixth man on a Final Four team, the conference MVP on a Wichita State team that started an NCAA-record 35-0 and carried an Auburn High School team with no starter taller than 6-feet to a third-place finish in state.

Saturday was another notch on VanVleet’s impossible task accomplished list. He replaced All-Star Kawhi Leonard in the starting lineup and helped the Toronto Raptors snap a three-game losing streak with a 122-83 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

He also snapped out of a person slump in the process, scoring a team-high 18 points.

“He looked like his old self,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “He has been a shell of himself lately, in all phases. Not getting the ball to where he wants to go, not shooting the 3 at a high level. But he looked like a different guy out there tonight.”

Saturday was VanVleet’s first start in 126 career games and the first NBA regular-season start in history by a former Rockford high school player, although last year’s finalist for Sixth Man of the Year also started one playoff game for Toronto last spring.

But he wasn’t replacing a 6-7, first-team All-NBA player last spring.

And he may not have done that Saturday either if Toronto, tied with two-time defending champion Golden State for the best record in the NBA, didn’t have four small forwards out with injury or illness.

“Fred,” Nurse said before the game, “is going to replace Kawhi. We’re going to have to play really small and really big at the same time.

“Freddie hasn’t been playing up to his standards. We’re hoping that this start can give him a little shot in the arm and get him going. He’s a tremendous player.”

VanVleet showed that in the first four games of the season, averaging 11.5 points, 5.3 assists and 3.0 rebounds before suffering an injury more common to football players (turf toe). He missed the last five games of October and hasn’t been the same since he returned. Since he came back, he had fewer games in double figure scoring (two) in eight games than he did in the first three games of the season (all three) before shining against the Bulls.

VanVleet came in shooting only 26 percent on 3s, leading raptorsrapture.com to say Saturday morning that the No. 1 question about the Raptors was: What is up with Fred VanVleet?

Maybe the fact that he never did return to full health.

“He’s been battling a bunch of little niggling things,” Nurse said, “but he’s super tough and he wants to be out there.”

Well, VanVleet was back to being his vintage self in his first start, displaying an NBA game that is much like his college and high school game: little to no flash, just maximum efficiency. He hits open jumpers when he gets them and gets the ball to open teammates. That’s it. No broken ankles, no dunks, no behind-the-back, no-look passes. But teams just run better when he directs them.

And throw a gasket when he doesn’t. Without VanVleet on the second unit Saturday, Toronto turned the ball over the first three times it had the ball with the starters on the bench to begin the second quarter.

But the first unit clicked. VanVleet had three rebounds in the first six minutes. His runner in the lane gave him 10 points in the first quarter and Toronto a 27-18 lead. The Bulls (4-13) never got closer than seven points the rest of the game.

VanVleet shot 7-for-11 on the night, including 4-for-7 on 3s.

“I’ve just got to make a shot,” VanVleet said. “Start, bench, whatever. But starting and getting an extended run is helpful in getting into a rhythm. I played the full first quarter and the full third. Being out there long enough to mess up and find a rhythm, it’s easier.”

VanVleet still isn’t 100 percent healthy, but doesn’t want to talk about injuries or use them as an excuse. Nor was he worried too much about a rough last three weeks.

“I don’t make excuses,” VanVleet said. “I’m still not where I want to be as far as being healthy, but that’s the NBA season. You’ve got to play through it and find ways to be successful. For whatever reason, I haven’t been as good as I can be. I don’t think I’ve been bad in any sense, but not playing up to my standards.

“I am still figuring it out. Today was a good game. I’ve got to build on it. I’ve got to put something together now and be consistent. Last year I struggled at the beginning of the season even worse. I’ve just got to take it on the chin and keep working, knowing it will balance out eventually.”